Day 5: Possessed

I had another dream with the few hours of sleep I got.

Mom and dad were up again before me. I guess they want be awake when I leave for work. I’m actually happy now that they are. When we first arrived here, I didn’t think it mattered. It does now. Seeing their happy faces when I leave makes my start of the day even better.

But I also want to stay focused. Now that I know the military is also behind what is going on here, I need to find out more. This could be a good thing for me. I want to learn more and if they see that potential, they could think I am wanting to be part of their conspiracy. Oh my. Am I becoming a conspiracy theorist myself?

Eating breakfast with mom and dad, I ask them what their plans are for today. Mom wants to get to know more neighbors. Dad wants to get to know more aliens. Silly dad. I hope this town isn’t making him like this. I overheard something about an infection yesterday. I need to ask Joie next time I see her.

As I head off to work, I remind myself to act like the military higher ups want to pull me in on what’s going on in this town. For my own sanity, I need to solve this mystery. I’m meant to solve this mystery.

Anne wanted to visit another neighbor. She dragged Junior along because as per the wishes of her son, she had to make sure he wasn’t glued to the television watching sci fi movies and concocting more alien nonsense.

They were in luck. The house they went to was occupied. As before, the woman inside welcomed the two in when there was a knock at the door. The woman inside introduced herself as Meredith Roswell. Anne then gave her own introductions of herself and Junior. She went onto explain her son had joined the military and was stationed here in StrangerVille and they tagged along. Meredith welcomed the two to the town.

Anne was happy to make a new friend. Junior on the other hand decided to snoop around. In one instance as Anne and Meredith were talking in the kitchen, he decided to raid her refrigerator. The two women were having a pleasant conversation that they didn’t even notice. Junior found some odd looking fruit that seemed to be glowing. He grabbed a couple and shoved them in his pocket.

After the meet and greet with Meredith, it was time to head home for some lunch. Anne also had to use the bathroom and didn’t want to bother Meredith and ask her to use hers. Meredith’s home looked more like a mansion. As Anne went to use the bathroom, Junior placed the fruit he stole in their refrigerator in the side door. Then he went to go see what was on the television.

Anne walked through the living room and asked Junior what he wanted for lunch. He said a grilled cheese sandwich would suffice. It was one of his favorites. Anne couldn’t argue with that. As she was grabbing the cheese from the fridge, she noticed the fruit in the side door. She picked one up and it was soft. It wasn’t any type of fruit she had seen before. She put it up to her nose to smell it. There was no odor to it. It looked fine to her. Anne brought it over to the counter with her with the ingredients needed for a grilled cheese. As she was making the grilled cheese on the stove, she picked up the fruit from the counter.

Then Anne took a bite.

Anne bent over holding her stomach. Something didn’t feel right.

Junior called out if everything was alright, but didn’t get any response. He called her name and still got nothing. He quickly got off the couch and went into the kitchen. In horror, he saw his wife standing there still with eyes wide open and a grin on her face. The same as the woman he met the other day in their front yard. The stove was smoking and he grabbed a mit and threw the now burnt grilled cheese into the sink.

He called her name again and waved his hand in front of her face. Anne cranked her neck to the side and continued to grin. Then she snapped her head back and leaned into Junior. She laughed and spoke few words. Then she straightened up and acted like she was back in a trance.

Junior called his son immediately on the phone and said he needed to come home right away.

I arrive home a little after 12:00 upon the request of my dad. He said something is wrong with mom. She’s acting like the lady he met when we arrived into town.

My sergeant wasn’t thrilled I left early from work, but he understood I needed to take care of family. I didn’t tell him what my dad did over the phone. Especially if Erwin is right and the military is involved.

I see mom just the way I did in my dream, or should I say nightmare. All I could so was stare at her while her head jerked around as she had a huge grin on her face and her eyes looked liked they were going to pop out of her head.

I ask dad how this happened. He shrugs his shoulders. He was watching tv and she was making lunch. He heard her making groaning noises and next thing she was like that when he went to check up on her. I continue to grill dad on what they did this morning. He replies that after I left, they went to visit another neighbor. A nice woman. Maybe she has something to do with this, I tell dad. He says all they did was talk and talk and talk. I question dad more with did she offer anything to eat or drink that she might have consumed? Dad shakes his head no. Says they didn’t have anything good anyway because he checked. He continued to say he did find some new looking fruit and he took some for later. But he never gave any to her. He points to the fridge and says he still has them.

I immediately head for the fridge. Inside the side door, I see a red looking fruit that oddly seems to be glowing ever so lightly. Similar to the pods that are outside everywhere. I take it out and sniff it. Dad says he took two of them. Maybe mom would have wanted to bake them in a pie or cake later. Two of them? I only saw one. It was only then that something caught my eye on the floor next to the stove. Another one of these half eaten. I yell at dad and ask how could he have been so stupid.

Dad was already sad and confused and I just made it worse by yelling at him. Then I hear mom ask what is going on and why am I home. She was starting lunch. I was suppose to be at work for another few hours. Me and dad shared quizzical looks to each other. What just happened?

I ask mom if she feels okay. She says yes and looks at me strangely now and asks what is going on. I don’t want to hide anything from her from what just happened, so I tell her. She thinks I am playing a practical joke on her with dad. But with the look in dad’s eyes, she begins to show fear herself. I try and calm her down and say to the both of them everything is going to be fine. I’m not sure I believe that myself, but I can’t show that to them.

I tell mom to go rest and have thn ask to dad keep an eye on her. I lie and say I am going back to work for a few hours and ask dad to call me again if she changes back to that weird state.

I go back to the kitchen and throw away the half eaten fruit. I take the other to my room and hide it away for later. I’ll have to try and get more information on it.

I find Erwin in his souvenir shack. I slap a dossier on the counter and tell him no more stalling. I ask if he has a keycard or not. I think I scared him a little from his facial expression, but I’m glad. He digs through a box of his and hands over a card that looks like what could be for the door in the secret lab. I tell Erwin we’re not finished and then I leave.

I call Joie up and tell her to meet me at the lab again around 11:00. I tell her I’ve obtained access to the locked door.

Everytime I visited Erwin, I’ve been curious about the crashed plane nearby. After talking to Erwin, I decide to check it out. The plane looks like it has been split in two when it crashed. Towards the back part of the plane, I notice a door. I slowly open it up and walk through. There are steps leading down underground. Whomever lives or lived here took time to design this after the plane crashed.

I hear voices as I am descending the stairs. I ask hello and it goes silent. Then a man approaches before I get to the bottom with a tool in his hand and tells me to get out. I apologize for intruding and meant no harm. I see he is wearing a pilot uniform and ask him what happened here. The pilot looked me over and responded that I tell him. I tell him my story of just joining the military less than a week ago and have no idea what is going on and then decide to put my trust in him right away and explain my story.

The pilot shares his name, George. I in turn tell him mine. George goes over how he was flying over town and a bright light shined through his window and he lost sight and his plane’s mechanical gadgets went awry and soon enough, his plane was going down. He doesn’t trust anyone in this town, so he built a bunker along with his friend Mark who was also in the plane. Mark found a laptop and was trying to figure out all about this town himself.

After talking to George and Mark, I headed back home. Mom was up being her normal self. I apologized to dad in private for being a jerk to him. He in turn told me he was sorry for making fun of all this and now he is concerned about being here. I told him not to worry and we’ll figure this out. I think tomorrow I will fill in my mom and dad that I am doing my own private investigation.

When 11:00 rolls around, I wait for Joie at the secret lab. She shows up and I smile. I take out the keycard from my pocket and wave it at her and tell her let’s go see what’s behind those doors. We make our way back inside the lab. I put the keycard up to the scanner next to the locked door and soon enough the door slides open. Joie is intrigued at all the technology equipment we find. However, she cannot figure out how any of it works and thinks the spores have something to do with it. She suggests I snoop around the military personnel some more.

As we get further into the lab, we stop at a corridor with a purple haze. Joie turns around and recommends we don’t go through. We can come back when I find out more to help her do her scientific investigations down here. I completely agree with her.